The “Impossible” Solution to Animal Agriculture
The hidden devastation of Animal Agriculture — and what an innovative company is doing to fix it.
“Where did my food come from?”
As humans, we seldom choose to acknowledge the source of our food. Most often, this is because none of us really want to hear the answer.
Nowadays, individuals all around the world are consuming unbelievable amounts of meat. It has become a consistent part of every meal, from breakfast to dinner.
In 2018 alone, the average American consumed 222 pounds of red meat and poultry per year, or almost 10 oz per day, setting the highest record for meat consumption in the U.S. since 2004.
However, we don’t really see what is happening behind those numbers.
In 2018, the meat and poultry industry also processed a total of 9 billion chickens, over 30 million cattle and calves, over 240 million turkey, and 121 million hogs. And this is just in the United States alone.
Unbeknownst to us all, animal agriculture has a larger impact on the world than we all think.
Around the world, over 70 billion animals are raised annually just for human consumption. Because of this, over a third of our ice-free land and 16 percent of global freshwater is dedicated for the sole purpose of growing livestock.
Unsurprisingly, cattle are the biggest source of CO₂ emissions from animal agriculture out of all livestock. A recent study showed that in the average American diet, beef consumption creates 900 kilograms of CO₂ annually per person, while replacing beef with plants would reduce that figure down by nearly 96 percent, bringing it down to just 33 kilograms of CO₂.
Unfortunately, animal agriculture has consequences far beyond the extremely inefficient use of our finite resources and exorbitant production of CO₂ gas.
Air and water pollution are directly correlated to the livestock industry. In fact, the livestock industry is the largest contributor to water pollution around the world. Global livestock produces 7 to 9 times more sewage than humans, most of which is left disregarded. Livestock also discharges heavy levels of pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals into water systems.
Not only is animal agriculture destroying the Earth, but it’s also destroying our own species as well. It is common for viral diseases to spread from sick livestock to humans and the increased use of antibiotics is leading to antibiotic resistance among livestock. Additionally, many high-volume facilities risk irresponsible manure management, leading to the airborne spread of fecal matter reaching nearby homes and causing respiratory problems.
Animal agriculture is a greater threat to our future than climate change
Yes, I said it. Animal agriculture is a greater threat to our future than climate change itself.
It is the biggest catalyst for climate change. And we cannot keep feeding into this cycle through our terrible diet.
However, the demand for meat is constantly growing. The influx in meat consumption per capita means that meat production has been growing at a much faster rate than the rate of the human population itself.
Animal agriculture is a threat to society. We have essentially covered the world with cows, and it’s our job to do something about it.
However, it is not an easy fix. In fact, we will likely never be able to “fix” this problem. But the way we go about addressing it is crucial to making lasting change to bettering our environment, increasing resources, and improving the health of the public.
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the MIT Tough Tech Summit, one of the biggest conferences in Boston for some of the most influential founders, investors, policy-makers, and leaders out there.
At the summit, I had the opportunity to attend a discussion with Pat Brown, the founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, a company that develops a variety of plant-based meat substitutes.
Recently, Impossible Foods has taken up the world by a storm. Specifically, the Impossible Burger, a plant-based meat alternative burger, has hooked individuals across the United States, Canada, and multiple other countries.
Only several years after its launch, the company has been featured in the New York Times, the Insider, and countless other magazines, newspapers, and blogs. The Impossible Burger saw a 529% spike in popularity in the first half of 2019 and is now featured in menus at Burger King, White Castle, Red Robin, and other chains, not to mention grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Target.
Woah.
Judging by Impossible’s traction in the past few years, it’s clear that they’ve done something right. But what exactly makes their products taste so similar to real meat itself?
The Works
Impossible Focuses on these 4 key aspects when creating their meat alternative products —
- Taste — needs to taste exactly like real meat. period.
- Nutrient Value — have the same, if not higher, nutrient value as real meat. This includes vitamin B12, iron, and protein levels.
- Functionality — the product must be easy to cook and prepare like real meat.
- Characteristics — the product must have the same texture and odor as real meat. Customers shouldn’t be able to detect the difference.
- Price — if it’s not affordable, who’s going to buy it? Definitely not me.
So how do they do it?
Impossible is focused on using high-quality ingredients in their products. This means simple ingredients such as potatoes, wheat, soy, and coconut oil. But the key ingredient that transforms their products is a little molecule called heme.
What is heme?
Heme is the little molecule in Impossible’s products that is responsible for creating the flavor, aroma, and texture of real meat in Impossible faux products.
So where is heme from? And how did it end up in my faux-meat burger?
All of our blood cells in our bodies right now contain a protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein that gives our blood cells the ability to carry oxygen throughout our bodies. heme, a molecule that is part of this protein that dictates human survival.
The large amounts of heme that is required in the tissues of all mammals are precisely what gives meat its rather “meaty” flavor. It is responsible for the unique subset of flavors, aromas, and textures that characterize meat. The release of heme during cooking causes the release of these textures and flavors.
Once scientists at Impossible Foods discovered that heme could be the key to transforming their products, they turned to the world of plants to find a suitable form of the protein.
Soon, Impossible stumbled upon leghemoglobin, a compound found in the roots of legumes. When mixed with other ingredients, it transformed a regular veggie burger into one that seemed too good to be true — the meat now cooked, smelled, and tasted like it was real.
So now that we’ve gone through the science, it’s time to at Impossible Foods through a different lens.
Let’s break down the steps they’ve taken in order to successfully address the issues regarding animal agriculture and create lasting change all whilst facing immense adversity from the agricultural world.
Mission Impossible: Beef, But With No Cows
First and foremost, Impossible recognizes the current problems with livestock, especially cows. They acknowledge that the cow is an inefficient and prehistoric technology, and are addressing the situation not by eradicating the cows itself, which is an unlikely approach. Rather, Impossible Foods is creating a product that delivers even more value to customers regarding protein and iron levels, convenience, affordability, and environmental sustainability, to outperform the cow.
From the beginning, Impossible Foods was focused on the mission, and putting their message out to the world, not the revenue.
The mission statement of Impossible Foods is simple —
To replace the need for animals as a food-production technology — globally, by 2035
Well, you can’t really miss it.
Impossible Foods’ mission statement is perhaps impossible to mess up. Impossible Foods avoids confusion and discrepancy across their impact. You either do it or you don’t. There’s no middle ground. Yes, their mission will be difficult and may even be unattainable. However, creating a tunnel vision and a single common goal among the company is a uniting force. There are countless other companies and entrepreneurs with complicated and vague missions, giving employees uneven footing. But Impossible’s concrete statement is the driving force in their success, giving them no room for blunders.
Taking the Higher Road
During the summit, Pat Brown presented Impossible’s mission, journey, and endpoint very clearly. There was/is no room for error or uncertainty.
Impossible’s Process is very straightforward and only contains 4 general steps:
- Understand the scientific problem
- Study the product, not the consumers
- Scale prototypes
- Receive endorsement from a targeted subgroup
Impossible puts a huge emphasis on understanding the problem at hand. And when I say huge, I mean huge. Considering that Impossible’s entire mission is to reduce the environmental impact of traditional animal agriculture, they have done their research, some of which are mentioned above. Furthermore, Impossible strives to study the product rather than the customers. Instead of focusing on how to stop customers from buying the product in the first place, Impossible focuses on emulating the product itself. Impossible specifically focuses on finding what makes meat delicious to people, and then turn that attention over to finding sustainable resources to create the most similar product possible. Instead of eradicating the problem, they’re finding a replacement.
From there, Impossible turns to scale the prototypes of their products. Working not only with researchers and engineers to develop the product itself, but also chefs, to assess the similarity of the product to real meat itself, as the company is focused on providing a sustainable option rather than a luxury.
Although it is now available in most large grocery stores, Impossible initially aimed to curate the consumer’s experience through endorsing their product in restaurants with the help of chefs. Grocery stores tend to be a very automated experience for all of us. We don’t try new things nearly as often; simply going on for what we need and not putting a significant amount of focus elsewhere. Restaurants create a more thoughtful experience for the consumer and allow a product or a dish to gain traction. After all, food is the livelihood of chefs; why would anyone launch a food product without their help?
Target Customers
When listening to Pat Brown speak during the summit, his clarity on the audience he was targeting was something that especially stuck out about the company.
Impossible has no interest in targeting vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, or other non-meat eaters. Instead of trying to sell his product to everyone, Pat is focused only on a specific group of people whose reduction in meat consumption will have the largest growth towards reaching Impossible’s mission statement.
In other words, Impossible is really just focused on getting the most bang for their buck.
Tearing Down An Industry
By no means has this journey been easy for Impossible Foods — even the radical idea of starting the company was a massive feat in and of itself.
Impossible Foods is essentially going after the 1.5 trillion dollar market of animal agriculture, estimated to be worth approximately 3 trillion dollars by 2025.
Impossible Foods is going up against the industry regardless. When Pat Brown began Impossible Foods, he knew that the animal industry wouldn’t exactly be a big supporter of the company. In fact, they would do anything in their power to tear down the company. During the discussion, Pat Brown outlined that the company’s main adversity so far has been misinformation.
Pat Brown is aware that the industry that Impossible Foods is trying to tear down is advantageous, despite having no agility whatsoever and spreading misinformation about Impossible to anyone at their disposal.
However, Pat Brown knows a thing or two about the animal agriculture industry. Not only does the industry use crude and cheap macronutrients to feed the livestock, but it lumbers along year after year accomplishing very little other than meeting the consumers’ rising demands. The animal agriculture industry is very uninnovative — things change very little in terms of technological development and meeting the needs of customers.
Impossible uses these weaknesses of the industry to accelerate its growth. They are aware that they must act with a sense of urgency. One of the biggest values of the company is done is better than perfect. It doesn’t make sense to take every possible step to avoid failure when you have a severely limited amount of time. Pat Brown acknowledges the fact that money cannot be thrown away but emphasizes that compromise is key because time wasted is money wasted.
What the Future Holds
Undeniably, animal agriculture is a problem far beyond what any of us thought it could be. It is terrifying to think of the devastation we have caused to billions of animals, the havoc we have wreaked on our own planet, and the magnitude of health issues we have brought upon countless innocent people.
It is time to bring an end to this once and for all.
Despite the adversity that companies such as Impossible Foods face, it is essential that companies like this continue to rise and dominate the agricultural industry through proper practices and scientific research.
And it’s our job to support them.
I am not asking for you to never touch a piece of meat again. That would be an impractical and unsustainable practice for many, who are accustomed to having meat at every meal. But every slight bit makes a difference.
Whether it be going meatless once a week, partially substituting your meat for alternatives from Impossible or other companies, or even educating those around you on the dangers of excess meat consumption, we can all make a difference towards saving our planet and obliterating the devastation caused by animal agriculture.
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